SBI’s Arundhati (morning star) to light up Modi-Abe dream

To add flesh and bone to the dream of NaMo and Shinzo Abe, State Bank of India (SBI) chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya launched an initiative on Tuesday to strengthen business ties with Japan where investors eyeing Indian markets need support in navigating the country’s illustriously or notoriously (whatever may please you) complex bureaucracy.

SBI dedicated Japan desk will offer wholesale and retail banking products like rupee funding for Japanese businesses and banks, as well as guidance on Indian companies and regulations.

“Whereas Japan has the skill and the capital, India has the skill and the market,” the SBI Chairperson told reporters in New Delhi after launching the initiative. “Japanese companies need special attention to understand the complexities (of markets like India).”

Japan is the fourth largest foreign investor in India, and PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, who enjoy a close relationship, have made much of the opportunity for both countries as India tries to grow its manufacturing industries.